Twelve months ago, im­mig­ra­tion re­form was con­spicu­ously ab­sent from policy con­ver­sa­tions in Con­gress. In the year since, thanks in great part to a chan­ging Amer­ica, the Sen­ate has passed a broad im­mig­ra­tion-re­form bill in strongly bi­par­tis­an fash­ion, and House lead­ers in both parties re­cog­nize they must take ac­tion.

Yes, right now Con­gress has a fisc­al crisis or two to deal with. But im­mig­ra­tion re­form is on deck and ready to go.

What happened?

Both parties opened their eyes fol­low­ing an elec­tion in which the win­ning can­did­ate for pres­id­ent had new Amer­ic­an voters to thank for vic­tory. Ac­cord­ing to exit polls, Pres­id­ent Obama won by a land­slide among Latino voters (71 per­cent to 27 per­cent) and by an even wider mar­gin among Asi­an-Amer­ic­an voters (73 per­cent-26 per­cent).

And the parties saw a coun­try in which voters across the spec­trum re­cog­nize we need a new im­mig­ra­tion pro­cess. Con­ser­vat­ive evan­gel­ic­al Chris­ti­ans, law-en­force­ment, and busi­ness lead­ers all urged Con­gress to pass im­mig­ra­tion re­form.

Sud­denly, politi­cians and pun­dits on the right changed their tune. “Self-de­port­a­tion,” the idea that as­pir­ing Amer­ic­ans without doc­u­ments could be made miser­able enough that they would de­cide to leave, was re­placed with soul-search­ing and calls for a new ap­proach to a rap­idly di­ver­si­fy­ing Amer­ica.

The elec­tion set the table for a wild ride in 2013.

The high point so far came in the Sen­ate on June 27, when 54 Demo­crats and 14 Re­pub­lic­ans voted for com­mon­sense re­form that would bring mil­lions of people out of the shad­ows and al­low them to con­trib­ute fully to our coun­try — while also em­phas­iz­ing bor­der se­cur­ity and restor­ing re­spect for the rule of law.

The road to bi­par­tis­an im­mig­ra­tion re­form has been bumpi­er in the House, where Re­pub­lic­an lead­ers are choos­ing a dif­fer­ent path to­ward re­form — and where the con­ver­sa­tion has stalled amid budget and debt-ceil­ing de­bates.

But, to warp the old Mark Twain quote, re­ports of im­mig­ra­tion re­form’s death are an ex­ag­ger­a­tion. The reas­on is the same one that has pro­pelled the de­bate all year long: Amer­ic­ans across the polit­ic­al spec­trum are ready for re­form. They want an im­mig­ra­tion pro­cess that hon­ors our val­ues of equal­ity, fair­ness, and hard work.

Lead­ers who hold a Bible have re­doubled their sup­port for an im­mig­ra­tion pro­cess that hon­ors the hu­man dig­nity and sup­ports the fam­ily unity of every­one in their di­ver­si­fy­ing con­greg­a­tions and com­munit­ies. And they have the sup­port of their con­greg­a­tions in a way they nev­er did be­fore.

For ex­ample, just since sum­mer, more than 175,000 people have signed on to an evan­gel­ic­al ef­fort to pray for im­mig­rants, for Con­gress, and for im­mig­ra­tion re­form.

Law-en­force­ment lead­ers con­tin­ue to speak out for re­form that will al­low them to fo­cus on pub­lic safety and re­build trust in im­mig­rant com­munit­ies, re­pla­cing a broken sys­tem in which loc­al of­fi­cials who carry a badge have been asked to as­sume fed­er­al im­mig­ra­tion-en­force­ment re­spons­ib­il­it­ies.

And, cer­tainly not least, busi­ness lead­ers re­cog­nize we are los­ing tal­ent and dim­ming our own eco­nom­ic op­por­tun­ity every day our broken im­mig­ra­tion sys­tem re­mains in ef­fect. On all parts of the eco­nom­ic spec­trum, re­form will help us real­ize our full eco­nom­ic po­ten­tial — as study after study has sug­ges­ted.

Mean­while, demo­graph­ic real­it­ies re­main just that. Hav­ing tasted their polit­ic­al in­flu­ence in the 2012 elec­tion, new Amer­ic­an voters are mak­ing a com­pel­ling case that law­makers ig­nore, stall, or wa­ter down im­mig­ra­tion re­form at their per­il.

This com­bin­a­tion of pres­sure from the left and sup­port from the right makes im­mig­ra­tion un­like any oth­er pub­lic policy is­sue: A true ma­jor­ity of Amer­ic­ans want com­mon­sense re­form to pass.

As a res­ult, the ques­tion is not if Con­gress will cre­ate a new im­mig­ra­tion pro­cess. Rather, the ques­tion is when? Voices across the polit­ic­al spec­trum are say­ing: Now. Be­fore the end of 2013.

Buckle up. This ride isn’t over yet.

Ali Noor­ani is the ex­ec­ut­ive dir­ect­or of the Na­tion­al Im­mig­ra­tion For­um, an ad­vocacy or­gan­iz­a­tion that pro­motes fed­er­al im­mig­ra­tion policies that ad­dress U.S. eco­nom­ic and na­tion­al se­cur­ity needs.

"President Trump signed a sweeping spending bill Friday afternoon, averting another partial government shutdown. The action came after Trump had declared a national emergency in a move designed to circumvent Congress and build additional barriers at the southern border, where he said the United States faces 'an invasion of our country.'"

Source:

REDIRECTS $8 BILLION

Trump Declares National Emergency

6 days ago

THE DETAILS

"President Donald Trump on Friday declared a state of emergency on the southern border and immediately direct $8 billion to construct or repair as many as 234 miles of a border barrier. The move — which is sure to invite vigorous legal challenges from activists and government officials — comes after Trump failed to get the $5.7 billion he was seeking from lawmakers. Instead, Trump agreed to sign a deal that included just $1.375 for border security."

Source:

COULD SOW DIVISION AMONG REPUBLICANS

House Will Condemn Emergency Declaration

6 days ago

THE DETAILS

"House Democrats are gearing up to pass a joint resolution disapproving of President Trump’s emergency declaration to build his U.S.-Mexico border wall, a move that will force Senate Republicans to vote on a contentious issue that divides their party. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Thursday evening in an interview with The Washington Post that the House would take up the resolution in the coming days or weeks. The measure is expected to easily clear the Democratic-led House, and because it would be privileged, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would be forced to put the resolution to a vote that he could lose."

Source:

MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, DRUG FORFEITURE FUND

Where Will the Emergency Money Come From?

1 weeks ago

THE DETAILS

"ABC News has learned the president plans to announce on Friday his intention to spend about $8 billion on the border wall with a mix of spending from Congressional appropriations approved Thursday night, executive action and an emergency declaration. A senior White House official familiar with the plan told ABC News that $1.375 billion would come from the spending bill Congress passed Thursday; $600 million would come from the Treasury Department's drug forfeiture fund; $2.5 billion would come from the Pentagon's drug interdiction program; and through an emergency declaration: $3.5 billion from the Pentagon's military construction budget."

Source:

TRUMP SAYS HE WILL SIGN

House Passes Funding Deal

1 weeks ago

THE DETAILS

"The House passed a massive border and budget bill that would avert a shutdown and keep the government funded through the end of September. The Senate passed the measure earlier Thursday. The bill provides $1.375 billion for fences, far short of the $5.7 billion President Trump had demanded to fund steel walls. But the president says he will sign the legislation, and instead seek to fund his border wall by declaring a national emergency."